Lost to the Ages
Pirate Party , A land known as a pirate paradise. What better place could've been home to the infamous from so many years ago. The skull-shaped rock formation was clearly the most defining landmark this island had to offer. But that wasn't what Delano was after. He loved wealth and riches, and an island like this should definitely have its fair share around. Be it in the form of actual loot or the bounties of those who resided there, beli shouldn't have been too hard to discover. As Delano left his small but reliable boat at a nearby shoreline, he made his move towards the city that covered the surface of the island. For, whatever he would find there, would most certainly be worth the travels. ---- Ba-bump... Ba-bump... Damian Grey blinked, seeing the soft ground underneath his chest and face. He heard no sound apart from the beat of his own heart as he lay there in the street of Hachinosu. He saw people running past him as he lay on the ground, terror evident on their faces even as they screamed in silence. He reached his hand out for them, almost as if begging them to stop. But no one had time for a man like him. An hour ago, he had been boasting to the patrons of one of the bars in this town about his 120,000,000 bounty. Now he laid upon this dirt as a forgotten man. Ba-bump... Ba-bump... The world was slowly turning grey as one more sound reached his ears, a set of soft footsteps approaching ever so slowly. Ever... so... slowly... Ba-bump..Ba-bump..Ba-bump..Ba-bump.. Grey tried to stand up, attempting to move his legs to escape the steps, but no matter how hard he tried his legs just wouldn't move. They wouldn't stand up even as his arms tried to drag him forward. The strength was rapidly leaving them as he inched forward even as the grey world turned ever colder, and the steps came ever closer. Ba-bump.Ba-bump.Ba-bump.Ba-bump His heart raced as he attempted to look over his shoulder, seeing the feet producing those steps mere meters behind him, right before he noticed all the blood. Red stained the dirt around him, the earth greedily soaking up the life flowing into it. Grey put all his strength into his arms as he flipped himself over, looking back at the black-haired man slowly walking forward. Blood dripped from the man's blade, and a trail of bodies could be seen behind him. Each looked as lifeless as the next. Then Grey made the mistake of looking down. bump-bump-bump-bump His heart raced as he found out why his legs weren't working, seeing them lying motionless nearly a meter away from his torso. Grey stared at the man as he stepped right next to him, staring at the face of Bimore O. Jack as the warlord towered over his rapidly dying body. The last thing he saw was Jack raising his finger to his lips. "Shhhh......." Ba-bum...... ---- After a mildly difficult trek through to reach the town, Delano would have his ears filled with the screams of men and women fleeing for their lives. It was a Pirate Paradise, so there were quite a few things that could've gone wrong in this town. Someone messed with the wrong pirate, a marine attack, or maybe even the presence of an Admiral or two, god forbid a Fleet Admiral. Despite this, Delano's lust for wealth blinded his better judgement. He ran into the city, his shoulder bumped into the shoulders of those around him as he pushed against the current. He was taller than a bulk of the people, and those who weren't too busy fleeing took note of his appearance, parting around him instead of colliding with him. As he almost reached the end of the flood, a young man grabbed onto his shoulder, attempting to pull him along. "THIS WAY! THE MONSTER IS THAT WAY!" He shouted, yet Delano yanked his arm away from the man's grasp. He turned around and continued to push against those around him. The man ultimately shrugged and continued to flee from the supposed monster that was causing such an uproar within the town. While Delano did the opposite, walking towards whatever or whoever was behind this. ---- "Two hundred and four..." Jack muttered as he walked past another body in his purge of the men and women of Hachinosu. This pirate paradise would not be one for much longer if one could even call it one now. The people of the town had ceased fighting him, aiming to run to the ships in a frantic effort to leave. A futile action. Here they could hide, they could fight, they could run. Once they reached the sea, all of their options would run out. All they could be was sitting ducks, not that it mattered. "A pity that no one here is worth even a small effort." the warlord sighed as he walked forwards. "Then I could at least feel like this was worth my time. Not that it matters... It never does..." The air crackled as Kuroken's flashed out, a wave of sky racing down it to run through a side alley. A scream could be heard as the occupants hiding down it were eviscerated by the churning winds. "Two hundred and nine..." Jack continued his stroll down the streets of the dead and the dying, continuing his rampage of death and steel when he noticed a most curious sight. A man walking through the crowds towards him, pushing through the panicked masses towards him. "Oh, someone's approaching me?" the warlord announced loudly enough for the other man to hear him. As Delano finally pushed through the last bits of the crowd, his gaze would meet that of Jack. Not only was he a Warlord, but held the title of The World's Strongest Swordsman. His determined expression swiftly changed, instead, he seemed to somehow change the structure of his face to the point he looked old and senile, almost as if he couldn't see. "My apologies, I seem to have misplaced my meds. Could you happen to point me in the direction to the nearest ship? No doctors here will give me any." He spoke, his voice creaky and weak to add to the act. "You're walking directly away from them," Jack replied coolly in response. "You should probably turn around before I decide to swing my sword again. After all, I have a schedule to keep. Though I suppose killing you is part of that schedule." He'll shrug. Shaking ever so slightly, Delano, continuing his feeble act, turned away from the man. "Ah, you are most definitely right. It's these new contacts I were prescribed, just makes everything look so odd." Keeping up his act a bit longer, the man's eyes went red. Jack was seemingly the most powerful of the Shichibukai. Powerful enough to hold the title of World's Strongest Swordsman like his predecessor. "No way he's gonna be my first fight after retirement, that's a fuckin death sentence!" "I guess I should probably pick up the pace a bit," Jack muttered to himself. He had been given a timeline by the Marines when they had asked him to purge this island. They didn't want any witnesses, no one to let the pirates know that their paradise had fallen until it was too late. That way this island would turn from a pirate's paradise to a pirate's demise. Jack slowly lifted his sword up towards the sky as the man turned away from him. "It's nothing personal," he announced as it reached its zenith. "Kyoku Kyuu..." The sword let out a monstrous hiss as it descended, weaving through the air in a winding pattern, etching a line in the sky as Jack brought it down. To those watching it, it weaved back and forth across the sky during its descent. The hiss reverberated, growing louder and louder until across the island everyone felt it in the back of their mind. "Senzu no Hebi!" The line shuddered as Jack announced the name of this technique. It wavered and undulated for a moment, almost as if it were resisting the sword's master's commands. The hissing stopped but for a moment as the line broke. It deformed, breaking apart into a thousand pieces that hissed out in every direction. The fangs of a serpent lead each one, allowing to pierce through everything in its path. The screams around the city rang out again, silencing one by one as their owners were run through by the spears of wind winding throughout the town. They took corners with ease, slipping up, around, and past obstacles without touching anything. Each spear struck true, piercing the heart of their victim without scratching the world around it. And the man in front of him was unlucky enough to have twelve of them hissing straight towards him. Attempting to escape from his demise wasn't enough. No. Once the screams of anguish rang out, Delano had known he would have to fight if he wanted to escape. He had to fight if he wanted to live. Swiftly, yes, almost within the blink of an eye, Delano rotated around to face Jack. In his left hand, he wielded a sword by its grip, however, the sword itself was still lying dormant within its scabbard. It appeared as if the man swung his sword, almost as if slicing something in half. Around him manifested ten spheres constructed of flame. As if sensing the impending danger, each and every sphere changed their form, for a lack of better words. The spheres shot forward as a blast of flames. Spiralling vortexes of flames glided through the air, heating up the environment as it did so. The air-born snakes would seem to melt before the heat of the attack. It was only science after all. Heat mixing with air would cause it to expand, and in a free environment, the compressed air would only lose form to the raging flames. Although lower in number, the spirals of flames seemed to eat up all of the snakes. And with their feast gone dry, they hungered for more. Raging on towards Jake in an attempt to claim him for their feast as well. A devil fruit? No, I don't think so. Jack thought as he dispassionately observed the reactions of the other man. He had figured something was off about the individual but hadn't bothered to confront the younger swordsman about it. But now that the man had revealed his fangs, it truly didn't matter. Jack inhaled deeply as he raised his sword in front of him, standing firm against the spiralling flames aiming to burn him to ash. Twisting his blade towards his side, almost as if he was sheathing it, he brought his left finger and thumb to the guard of his weapon as his stance shifted lower. The ground cracked slightly as Jack moved, leaping into the flames between the two swordsmen. His fingers slid along the rear of the blade, an almost inaudible melody playing from the water steel. As fingers of flames reached out to touch the blade of black, they began to flicker and fade, losing their form and heat during the swordsman's passage. First, they lost their forms right as they were about to burn the man, but as he closed the distance between himself and the swordsman in front of him, more and more fire winked out of existence. After mere moments, all of the flames had flickered out of existence, even as the sound of the swordsman's passage faded out. Delano would find himself short of breath an instant later, the air having been stripped out of the street by the melody of the wind, pushed away for a moment to sputter out the flames. Jack had temporarily removed the sky from the area, negating both powers for an instant so he could test blade against blade. Jack lowered his stance once more as he approached the other swordsmen, twisting his body around to bring the sword upwards towards Delano. The blade left the barest trace of its passage on the earth below, striking from beneath to open the other man from hip to shoulder even as the air came racing back in with a thunderclap, restoring the sky an instant after the sword made its stroke. "Of course this won't be easy." Delano had all types of thoughts racing through his head, all of which came to a sudden halt once he found himself at a lost for breath. He was in the middle of taking in fresh air when it happened. In an attempt to conserve as much oxygen as possible, he held his mouth shut in correspondence to the approaching Jack. He could only wait for the next attack. His eye's closed, almost as if accepting his fate and not wanting to witness the blade slicing through his skin. However, as Jack made his movements, so did Delano. He brought his sword to intercept Jack's own with twice the speed. As the scabbard met with the iron of the sword, Delano's elbow from his free hand seemed to bent and pressing against his scabbard, seemingly applying more force behind his attack. As the environment returned, Delano's eyes shot open within an instant. He noticed that there seemed to be a difference between the distance, almost as if one of them stepped back from the altercation. Without overthinking it, Delano took back in the air and took back to his usual stance. "Footwork is sloppy. I should've fought that girl for practice." Clearly, it was his fault. After all, he should've known he'd be facing one of the most serious and deadliest men to ever exist...yes, how foolish of Delano to not expect his death so soon. He took in a quick breath, letting the anxiety fall. He told himself that Jack was just like any other opponent. A fancy title or two shouldn't make him that big of a deal, right? Regardless, the man took his scabbard in arms. In a sudden movement that not even the winds could react to, Delano appeared overhead of the older swordsman. Both of his hands were on the scabbard, he let his weight serve as the catalyst of the force of the attack and let that force transfer to his sword. Within that moment was a strange form of peace. That type of calm you get before a storm, yet you aren't quite sure what type of storm it is. Nevertheless, the apparent storm came as Delano and his sword fell down with an explosive force. His scabbard coming down on Jack to deal blunt force instead of the standard slash that most swordsmen were all too familiar with. Jack slid back as the other swordsman managed to force back his attack. His strength wasn't half bad, though his movements spoke of someone who was a bit rusty. Maybe once he had a chance to limber up further he might be a threat. But for now, he was just predictable. Too predictable. "Sloppy, your bladework is just downright sloppy," Jack announced to his enemy as he settled down, his blade still outstretched at the end of his swing. "Do you really think that you'll beat me with that. Don't be so predictable. Strikes should be decisive and precise, not half-assed." As the man in front of him recollected himself, Jack brought his sword behind him, resting the back of his vaunted blade upon his shoulders a moment before the man in front of him disappeared. "Predictable." The scabbarded blade impacted straight down upon Nidai Kitetsu, a crack filling the street upon the impact. Jack had been expecting the rear attack from before the man had even moved. It was common practice. Can't take the person in front of you head-on? Slip their sight and strike from behind. Jack tilted his blade, angling it so the man's sword began to slide down across the water-steel blade towards it's tip. Nidai Kitetsu leapt upwards the instant it was freed from the clash, aiming to take off Delano's head at his neck as the weapon had already bypassed the man's blade. But even as his blade shot upwards, Jack moved, chaining this attack into the next. Even as his blade aimed to sever Delano's head from his neck, Jack shifted his position to move to the side of the pirate, continuing the motion of his slash in an attempt to lay open the young man's back in one single slice. As the scabbard and Nidai Kitetsu made their second meeting since the two swordsman began their duel, Delano could essentially feel that he was nearly on death's doorsteps. But he couldn't let it end so soon. After all, he'd basically just begun his return to the scene of piracy. And surviving none other than Bimore O. Jack would be quite the cover story. Sliding down the length of Jack's own weapon, Delano knew his best option was to maneuver about it's path of calamity. For that one second before Nidai Kitetsu had made it's way for Delano's neck, Delano would push his scabbard up against the length of the famed katana. It was done in a motion that one side, the blunt end of the scabbard, would slide up the side of Nidai Kitetsu. The motion would essentially trigger and opposite reaction on Delano's end, where as the blunt end slid up, Delano would slide downwards. And so, when Jack went in for the kill, his strike would just barely graze one of the strands on Delano's head. A fresh new cut that he wasn't particularly a fan of. Now with his back towards the ground, Delano would let the heel of his left leg graze the ground. He would twist his foot to the right, using the light contact with the ground to serve as the resistance that would cause the remainder of his body of twist as well. Now his stomach faced the ground, and he held his sword in a horizontal position in preparation for Jack's next attack. As the scabbard and katana met yet again, the clash was prompt like the first few times. However, unlike the first two times, Delano lacked any counter force working in his favor to balance on or serve as a resistance to Jack's power. Without anything to keep him balanced on, Delano was pushed back much greater than he had ever been before. As such, the collision sent Delano flying backwards. He was able to take the prolonged hang time to and push back from the clash to rotate himself into more-so of a sitting position. He kicked his feet out in an attempt to stand, skidding across the ground momentarily. Delano went in to attempt to slam his scabbard into the ground to stop himself from traveling any further, but he would find himself smashing through a building before it could be done. He'd essentially left one big Delano-sized hole in the wall. And soon, he'd leave a Delano-sized hole in the roof. From the dust and rubble produced from the two crashes he taken, one involuntarily and other by his own volition, Delano seemed largely unharmed despite it all. He'd given himself a moment of more time being airborne, simply enjoying the flair of it now instead of the functionality. Delano tossed his scabbarded blade even higher into the air, reaching at his left hip with his right hand now that it had been free. "I should've done this from the beginning." Delano spoke, and from his left hip, he drew a second sword. Yet this time, he freed it from it's scabbard, allowing it's true form to join in the fray. As his scabbard came back down, he would grip it tightly with his left hand, effectively dual wielding a rather strange pair of weapons. His gaze became sharper, focusing on Jack's figure as he begun his next attack. In the blink of an eye, Delano swung the sword he held in his right hand faster than the human eye could perceive under normal conditions. This essentially let to several crescent wind blades being thrown about. Yet, instead of going straight, they seemed to arc and curve about in numerous directions, this all having suggested that Delano spun his blade like a baton rather than like it was an actual sword. Nevertheless, the crescent blades hadn't lost any potency. In fact, they seemed rather powerful despite the untamed conditions they were born from. This was Tensei Saigai's power. As the crescent waves of air pressure cut and tore through the air, only those projected directly before Delano seemed to chew their way towards Jack in an attempt to tear him asunder. Those that were born from his sides seemed to instead curve to the point they were traveling around the entirety of the island, seemingly beginning their journey to form a lap around it's size. Once Delano landed on the ground, he would seemingly wait for the product of his attacks on Jack, being more eager to see how the master swordsman would react in place of whether they would actually cause any harm.